Saturday, December 8, 2007

Not "Just" Arguing Semantics: Bishop "Under Investigation"?

Thursday evening, Austin's Fox television news affiliate reported that
"the prosecutor in the Laura Hall case is under investigation for alleged misconduct during the sentencing phase of her trial. That's according to a letter FOX 7 obtained from the Board of Disciplinary Appeals. Hall's attorney says prosecutor Bill Bishop called Doug Connaly [sic] to testify against her during sentencing, but Bishop did not tell the defense that Connaly [sic] was not able to pick Hall out of a photo lineup."
"Under investigation" sounds serious--and it may very well be serious in Bishop's case--but it's impossible to determine from the vague yet ear-catching information provided in that short story. I haven't been successful in finding more information online, either.

In the section regarding filing grievances against lawyers, the State Bar of Texas' website does not use that term "under investigation" so I don't know what that really means in the real world. The Bar uses the terms "inquiry" and "complaint" in its initial grievance process: which word sounds more serious on the surface? Apparently a "complaint" is more serious.

Nothing personal, Fox 7, but it would be nice to hear more specifics in your "top stories." And correct spelling of names would be nice, too.

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